This book offers a practical approach to conducting practice research in the field of human services. This evolving form of applied research seeks to understand practice in the context of the relationships between service providers and service users, between service providers and their managers, between agency-based service providers and community advocacy and support groups, and between agency managers and policy makers. Practice research represents a form of evidence-informed practice that involves a wide array of research designs and methods, in contrast to the narrower emphasis on experimental designs that characterizes evidence-based practice. The emerging principles and practices associated with practice research highlight: 1) including multiple, diverse stakeholders, 2) maximizing and negotiating participation, 3) promoting practitioner engagement in all phases of the research process, and 4) developing new identities for participants as research-minded practitioners and practice-minded researchers. The book is designed for researchers, practitioners, service users and students, and focuses on concrete experiences that illustrate the processes and activities involved in a specific, locally negotiated model of practice research. The book describes multiple practice research studies across an array of fields of practice in the human services, focusing on the research questions, designs, roles and relationships that have been developed in the context of a university-agency practice research partnership. These descriptions and stories are used to construct a comprehensive, detailed picture of the research process. Based upon these descriptions, the book synthesizes a set of broader principles and guidelines for practice researchers.

The Routledge Handbook of Social Work Practice Research is the first international handbook to focus on practice research for social work. Bringing together leading scholars in the field from Europe, the USA and the Asia Pacific region, it provides an up-to-the minute overview of the latest thinking in practice research whilst also providing practical advice on how to undertake practice research in the field. It is divided into five sections: State of the art Methodologies Pedagogies Applications Expanding the frontiers The range of topics discussed will enhance student development as well as increase the capacity of practitioners to conduct research; develop coordinating and leadership roles; and liaise with multiple stakeholders who will strengthen the context base for practice research. As such, this handbook will be essential reading for all social work students, practitioners and academics as well as those working in other health and social care settings.

This second edition of Innovation and Change in the Human Services considerably updates and expands the previous volume. An overview of the development of human services over the course of the twentieth century culminates in an evolutionary model which illustrates how human services generally progress from an initial “individual-problem” stage to one of considerable governmental involvement and media attention. Eight specific human services are discussed in detail: hospices for those with life-limiting illness; continuing care retirement communities; services for those with HIV/AIDS; domestic assault services; day care for children; services for the homeless; lifelong occupational counseling; and services for Alzheimer’s patients. A full chapter is devoted to some of the major events of the last decade of the twentieth century: the Clinton Health Care Plan; the Welfare Reforms of 1996; and the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. The chapter on human services education compares degree programs in human services and social work, and suggests a functional approach which would allow the human services worker to move easily from one setting to another, due to having mastered a common core curriculum with “universal” applicability. The last chapter deals with human services issues of considerable importance at the start of the twenty-first century, including: the corporatization of human services; the privatization of human services; Social Security reform; and healthcare reform. This material is expected to be of use not only to educators and students in the human services, but also to policy analysts and health services administrators/practitioners who face everyday the challenge of refining/adapting the programs they administer, study and support

Covers all major topics relevant to clinical social work. Discusses social work practice, multicultural and diversity issues, and research, as well as assessment and measurement.

Society is rapidly changing its expectations of professionals in all arenas. In this book we focus on changing patterns of professional practice in health, education and the creative arts. In each of these areas professional practice care is undergoing major reform in a complex and rapidly changing environment. This multi-authored text explores professional practice in four key dimensions: doing, knowing, being and becoming. These concepts have been chosen to represent professional practice as much more than applying learned knowledge in practice situations. The authors present professional practice as a lived and dynamic experience as well as a process, a service for (and with) others, and a way of being and behaving. The text explores the essential unity of knowledge and practice, through discourse, narrative, imagery and critical debate. This is a book for all those seeking to learn and to improve practice.

Social work professionals must demonstrate their effectiveness to legislators and governments, not to mention clients and incoming practitioners. A thorough evaluation of the activities, ethics, and outcomes of social work practice is critical to maintaining investment and interest in the profession and improving the lives of underserved populations. Incorporating the concerns of a new century into a consideration of models for practice research, this volume builds on the visionary work of William J. Reid (1928-2003) who transformed social work research through empirically based and task-centered approaches-and, more recently, synthesized intervention knowledge for framing future study. This collection reviews the task-centered model and other contemporary Evidence-Based Practice models for working with individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations. Essays demonstrate the value of these pragmatic approaches in the United States and international settings. Contributors summarize state-of-the-art methods in several key fields of service, including children and families, aging, substance abuse, and mental health. They also evaluate the research movement itself, outlining an agenda for today's sociopolitical landscape and the profession. This volume inspires practice research to prioritize evidence as a base for the profession.